Trans Air Force sergeants take Trump admin to court, say it’s ‘not possible’ to serve as women
Two transgender military service members, both of whom have already undergone sex changes from female to male, are taking the Trump administration to court over executive orders that not only banned transgender individuals from serving in the military but also recognize only two sexes, male and female. The lawsuit filed Monday in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey by Master Sgt. Logan Ireland and Staff Sgt. Nicholas Bear Bade, two biologically female service members who transitioned to male, argues the executive orders subject the Air Force personnel “to unequal, harmful, and demeaning treatment.” TRANS AIRMEN, SPACE FORCE PERSONNEL HAVE UNTIL MARCH 26 TO RESIGN UNDER TRUMP ORDER: MEMO The lawsuit continues that the executive orders mean the non-commissioned officers’ “future in the Air Force is in jeopardy” as they have been put on administrative leave unless they serve as their biological sex. “It is not possible, though, for either Plaintiff to serve as a woman because each one has medically transitioned to be and live as a man,” the lawsuit states. Both service members “reasonably fear” imminent separation proceedings against them after the Trump administration issued a memorandum warning transgender troops in the Air Force and Space Force have until March 26 to resign, saying that individuals with gender dysphoria are “incompatible with the high mental and physical standards necessary for military service.” PENTAGON SAYS TRANSGENDER TROOPS ARE DISQUALIFIED FROM SERVICE WITHOUT AN EXEMPTION “Simply put, Master Sergeant Ireland and Staff Sergeant Bade have a constitutional right not to be separated from military service based on their transgender status, a characteristic that has nothing to do with their fitness or ability to serve,” the lawsuit reads. Both service members began their gender transition more than 10 years ago and have since racked up several honorable accolades while serving in the military, court documents show. Both airmen contest that their longstanding careers will take a hit, affecting their livelihood and families, if forced to resign. This is the third lawsuit the Trump administration has been hit with over his transgender military order, and one of at least 12 others against Trump’s “two-sexes” order. The lawsuit requests the court to block Trump’s order from taking effect, which if granted would add to a pile of district judges bucking several of Trump’s executive orders. VA RESCINDS 2018 DIRECTIVE ON TRANSGENDER TREATMENTS, ALIGNING WITH TRUMP’S ‘TWO SEXES’ EO Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House for comment.
TribCast: Measles, COVID and the state of our public health system
On the fifth anniversary of the start of the COVID pandemic, we discuss the measles outbreak and the state’s ability to respond to health crises.
University of Texas System bans drag shows in campus facilities
The move comes a few weeks after the Texas A&M System issued a similar ban, which is being challenged in court.
Trump doesn’t use autopen for legally binding documents, unlike Biden, White House says
The White House maintains that President Donald Trump does not use an autopen to sign legally binding documents like pardons — after Trump accused former President Joe Biden of having used the mechanical device to sign such documents. A White House official confirmed to Fox News Digital Tuesday that the Trump administration’s official policy during both his terms has been to use Trump’s hand signature on every legally operational or binding document. Trump told reporters on Air Force One Sunday that while he uses an autopen for correspondence, it’s shameful to use one when signing documents such as pardons. “We may use it, as an example, to send some young person a letter because it’s nice,” Trump said. “You know, we get thousands and thousands of letters, letters of support for young people, from people that aren’t feeling well, etcetera. But to sign pardons and all of the things that he signed with an autopen is disgraceful.” TRUMP CLAIMS BIDEN PARDONS ARE ‘VOID,’ ALLEGING THEY WERE SIGNED VIA AUTOPEN Trump also claimed on Sunday that the courts must decide whether Biden’s use of an autopen for executive orders and pardons means they are void. An autopen is a device that physically holds a pen and is programmed to replicate a person’s signature. The Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel determined in 2005 that the president is permitted to use an autopen to sign bills into law, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit issued a ruling in February that said the absence of “a writing does not equate to proof that a commutation did not occur.” “The constitutional text is thus silent as to any particular form the President’s clemency act must take to be effective,” the circuit court said in its opinion. Trump raised the issue of Biden utilizing an autopen to sign pardons — including some for lawmakers who served on the House Select Committee to investigate the Jan. 6 Capitol riot — in a social media post on Sunday. Trump claimed in the post that the pardons were “VOID” and accused Biden of not having knowledge of their signing. “In other words, Joe Biden did not sign them but, more importantly, he did not know anything about them! The necessary Pardoning Documents were not explained to, or approved by, Biden. He knew nothing about them, and the people that did may have committed a crime,” Trump said in his post. A spokesperson for Biden did not provide comment on the record to Fox News Digital. BIDEN’S ‘AUTOPEN SIGNATURE’ APPEARS ON MOST OFFICIAL DOCS, RAISING CONCERNS OVER WHO CONTROLLED THE WH: REPORT On March 6, the Oversight Project with conservative think-tank The Heritage Foundation released a report claiming that it conducted an analysis of Biden documents, and found that a majority of documents signed during his administration used an autopen. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “Our findings suggest widespread use of an autopen to sign clemency warrants throughout the Biden Presidency,” the Oversight Project said in a memo released March 17. “This apparent use raises concerns about: whether President Biden personally authorized each official act; whether or which unelected staff controlled the autopen device; and whether they acted with his approval.” On Trump’s inauguration day, Biden signed pardons for the former chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, retired Gen. Mark Milley, whom Trump has accused of committing treason, as well as those involved in the Jan. 6 Select Committee investigation that conducted a probe into the attack. Trump historically has railed against the select committee, and was indicted in August 2023 for attempting to overturn the 2020 election results that culminated in the attack on the Capitol. However, special counsel Jack Smith dropped the case against Trump in November 2024 after Trump won the presidential election. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
California Sen Adam Schiff changes tune on DOJ, reams increasingly ‘Orwellian’ leadership
Sen. Adam Schiff, once a staunch defender of the Justice Department’s independence, now warns it has become an ‘Orwellian’ tool for President Donald Trump and ripe for political abuse. The California Democrat and former U.S. prosecutor, who served four House terms before his election to the Senate last fall, has long been an outspoken Trump foe, using his former posts as chair of the House Oversight Committee and impeachment probes to urge a more independent-minded Justice Department. “The rule of law is a core foundation of our nation,” Schiff previously told Time Magazine during Trump’s first term in office. “No one, not even the president, is above it.” Schiff once served as a federal prosecutor at the Justice Department, where he helped successfully convict an ex-FBI agent on charges of spying for the Soviet Union. Throughout his later service in the House, he repeatedly defended the Justice Department as independent-minded and asserted that its career officials operate above the political fray. TRUMP ASKS SUPREME COURT TO REVIEW BAN ON BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP He also chided his Republican colleagues who, in his view, too harshly criticized the agency, warning them that doing so could lead to an erosion of trust. Fewer than four years later, however, Schiff is singing a different tune. Now in the Senate, the California Democrat is one of the most vocal critics, sounding the alarm about Trump’s efforts to reform the Justice Department to his liking. On Monday, he pushed back against Trump’s claim that he and other members of the House committee tasked with investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riot could be subject to “investigation at the highest level,” as the president threatened in a Truth Social post. “The members of the Jan 6 Committee are all proud of our work,” Schiff wrote on X, in response to Trump’s remarks. “Your threats will not intimidate us. Or silence us.” Earlier this month, Schiff took aim at the current leadership of the Justice Department in a blistering floor speech, noting that the DOJ’s three most senior officials, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche and John Sauer, all formerly represented Trump in criminal court proceedings. By so frequently claiming the Justice Department has been improperly “weaponized” against him, Schiff said, Trump has arguably given his officials a green light, “in Orwellian fashion, to do what they have accused others of doing,” which is “to weaponize the department. … To use the department as a sword and as a shield.” WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY DEFENDS TRUMP’S FIRING OF INSPECTORS GENERAL Schiff also blasted the Supreme Court decision last August that expanded the view of presidential immunity – a ruling, he said, that “has turbocharged the ability to weaponize the Department of Justice by a president who wishes to use it for that purpose.” Last month, Schiff joined other Democrats on the panel in urging the administration to turn over information that prompted their decision to remove or reassign dozens of career Justice Department officials and FBI personnel. Lawmakers also cited concerns about a sprawling questionnaire sent by Justice Department officials to thousands of FBI agents and supervisors in January asking detailed questions about their roles in the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riot investigation. FBI AGENTS GROUP TELLS CONGRESS TO TAKE URGENT ACTION TO PROTECT AGAINST POLITICIZATION That questionnaire is also the subject of a lawsuit filed this year by current and former FBI agents, who are seeking to head off any retaliation or discriminatory action against personnel involved in the Jan. 6 probe. A judge is expected to hear from both parties in court later this month. Most recently, Trump attempted to strip security clearances and access to federal government buildings for all Perkins Coie employees, a law firm he sees as opposed to his political agenda, prompting a federal judge to step in and block the order. “An American President is not a king – not even an ‘elected’ one – and his power to remove federal officers and honest civil servants like plaintiff is not absolute,” U.S. District Court Judge Beryl Howell wrote in a court order this month that blocked one of Trump’s executive orders from taking force. Schiff, for his part, appears to share that view. “There could be no more frontal assault on the post-Watergate policy of having some division between the White House and the Justice Department than the Supreme Court of the United States saying, ‘Break down that wall. Use the department any way you wish. Create cases where there’s no evidence. Dismiss cases where there’s plenty of evidence. And you will never face accountability. No matter how corrupt a motive,’” Schiff said this month. Reached for comment about his evolving views on the Justice Department, Schiff’s office pointed Fox News Digital to his previous remarks, including a February interview on MSNBC’s “The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell.” Asked about his claims that Trump has weaponized the Justice Department – and the severity of the issue – Schiff responded, “We’ve had a debate about what level of constitutional crisis we’re in, and frankly, I think we’re already there.”
Byron Donalds picks up endorsement from fellow House Republican as he eyes Florida governorship
Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Fla., has endorsed Trump-backed gubernatorial hopeful Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., for Florida governor. “My friend, Byron Donalds, is a fearless Conservative and MAGA patriot. I have worked closely with him in Congress and know from personal experience his fight, tenacity, and effectiveness. He will be a great executive for our Sunshine State,” Buchanan said in a statement. Donalds announced his candidacy last month after President Donald Trump publicly pledged his endorsement while urging the lawmaker to run. FIRST ON FOX: TOP CONSERVATIVE GROUP ALIGNS WITH TRUMP AS IT MAKES MAJOR ENDORSEMENT IN HIGH-PROFILE RACE “Byron Donalds would be a truly Great and Powerful Governor for Florida and, should he decide to run, will have my Complete and Total Endorsement. RUN, BYRON, RUN!” Trump declared in the February post on Truth Social. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis — who is currently serving his second term — may not run again in the 2026 cycle. “Honored to receive my first Congressional endorsement from a friend and trusted conservative leader: Rep. @VernBuchanan. Vern and I have fought side-by-side in Congress for our SW Florida community and the Sunshine State. As governor, I’ll bring that same fight to Tallahassee,” Donalds declared in a post on X. FLORIDA REP. BYRON DONALDS ANNOUNCES PLANS TO RUN FOR GOVERNOR When Fox News’ Brian Kilmeade asked DeSantis’ predecessor, U.S. Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., whether he endorses Donalds, the senator responded noting that the lawmaker is his “friend,” and that he will do all that he can to be helpful to Donalds, who he believes will win and “be a phenomenal governor.” While speaking on the “Brian Kilmeade Show,” Scott noted that he is “glad” Trump endorsed Donalds. BYRON DONALDS POINTS TO TRUMP ENDORSEMENT WHILE ADDRESSING CASEY DESANTIS RIVALING CAMPAIGN RUMORS CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Donalds has served in the U.S. House of Representatives since 2021.
DOJ insists El Salvador deportation flights did not violate court order
The Justice Department insisted Tuesday that deportation flights that sent Venezuelan nationals to El Salvador over the weekend did not violate a court order. The federal response came after U.S. District Judge James Boasberg granted an emergency order Saturday to temporarily block the flights from taking place for 14 days while his court considered the legality of using the 1798 wartime-era Alien Enemies Act to immediately deport Venezuelan nationals and alleged members of the violent gang Tren de Aragua. He ordered the Trump administration on Monday to submit more information about Saturday’s flights, including what time each plane took off from the U.S. “The Court… ordered the Government to address the form in which it can provide further details about flights that left the United States before 7:25 PM,” reads a filing Tuesday that was co-signed by Attorney General Pamela Bondi, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche and others. “The Government maintains that there is no justification to order the provision of additional information, and that doing so would be inappropriate, because even accepting Plaintiffs’ account of the facts, there was no violation of the Court’s written order (since the relevant flights left U.S. airspace, and so their occupants were ‘removed,’ before the order issued), and the Court’s earlier oral statements were not independently enforceable as injunctions.” Boasberg on Tuesday ordered the Justice Department to answer five other questions, submitting declarations to him under seal by noon on Wednesday: “1) What time did the plane take off from U.S. soil and from where? 2) What time did it leave U.S. airspace? 3) What time did it land in which foreign country (including if it made more than one stop)? 4) What time were individuals subject solely to the Proclamation transferred out of U.S. custody? and 5) How many people were aboard solely on the basis of the Proclamation?” In granting the emergency order Saturday, Boasberg sided with the plaintiffs – Democracy Forward and the ACLU – who had argued that the deportations would likely pose imminent and “irreparable” harm to the migrants under the time proposed. TRUMP ADMINISTRATION HAS NOON DEADLINE TO DISCLOSE DEPORTATION FLIGHT DETAILS AFTER JUDGE’S ORDER Boasberg also ordered the Trump administration on Saturday to immediately halt any planned deportations and to notify their clients that “any plane containing these folks that is going to take off or is in the air needs to be returned to the United States,” he said. However, the decision apparently came too late to stop two planes filled with more than 200 migrants who were deported to El Salvador. READ THE DOJ FILING – APP USERS, CLICK HERE: White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News in an interview that a plane carrying hundreds of migrants, including more than 130 persons removed under the Alien Enemies Act, had already “left U.S. airspace” by the time the order was handed down. US PAID EL SALVADOR TO TAKE VENEZUELAN TREN DE ARAGUA MEMBERS, WHITE HOUSE SAYS “ICE understood the Proclamation Invocation of the Alien Enemies Act Regarding the Invasion of The United States by Tren De Aragua to be effective only once it was posted to the White House website, which was at or around 3:53 PM EDT on March 15, 2025,” ICE Acting Field Office Director of Enforcement and Removal Operations Robert Cerna wrote in a declaration Tuesday. “On March 15, 2025, after the Proclamation was publicly posted and took effect, three planes carrying aliens departed the United States for El Salvador International Airport (SAL). Two of those planes departed U.S. territory and airspace before 7:25 PM EDT. The third plane departed after that time, but all individuals on that third plane had Title 8 final removal orders and thus were not removed solely on the basis of the Proclamation at issue,” he continued. “To avoid any doubt, no one on any flight departing the United States after 7:25 PM EDT on March 15, 2025, was removed solely on the basis of the Proclamation at issue. ICE carefully tracks the TdA members who are amenable to removal proceedings. At this time approximately 54 members of TdA are in detention and on the detained docket, approximately 172 are on the non-detained docket, and approximately 32 are in criminal custody with active detainers against them. Should they be transferred to ICE custody, they will likely be placed in removal proceedings,” he said. Fox News’ David Spunt contributed to this report.
Children, a doctor: Some of the people killed by Israeli strikes in Gaza
The Israeli military has been bombing across Gaza since the early hours of the morning, killing over 400 Palestinians and wounding more than 500 others. With many children and women among the dead, the casualty figures are only expected to rise. Entire families have once again been wiped out, and local authorities are appealing to the public for blood donations. Israel’s bombing campaign came without warning, countless Palestinians waking up to witness the extension of what the United Nations has called “hell on earth”. Dozens of videos circulating on Tuesday showed civilians searching for loved ones in morgues and under the rubble of destroyed homes. Here are some of the victims of Israel’s latest attacks: Family slaughtered in Gaza City Ramy Abdu, chairman of the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor, lost his sister and her entire family after their home was bombed in Gaza City in the northern part of the enclave at around 4:30am (2:30 GMT) He said Nesreen and her son and daughters, Ubaida, Omar and Lian, were all killed, along with Ubaida’s wife, Malak, and their small children, Siwar and Mohammed. Advertisement The family had survived many previous Israeli air strikes over several years and had their home and entire neighbourhood destroyed by Israeli bombs earlier in the war. Israel killed my sister and her children tonight, along with her entire family. Israel may kill us at will, burn us alive, and tear us apart, but it will never succeed in uprooting us from our land. Justice and accountability await—no matter how long it takes.Omer & Layan pic.twitter.com/aINB6AM2td — Ramy Abdu| رامي عبده (@RamAbdu) March 18, 2025 “Israel may kill us at will, burn us alive, and tear us apart, but it will never succeed in uprooting us from our land,” Abdu wrote on his X account, calling for accountability. Also in Gaza City, footage broadcast by Palestinians on Instagram, verified by Al Jazeera, showed scenes of injured people on the ground as a result of an Israeli attack that hit a group of people near al-Rantisi Children’s Hospital. A doctor and her whole family killed Around half an hour after the killing of Abdu’s family in the north, a Gaza physician and her family were wiped out in the south. Dr Majda Abu Aker, who was an obstetrics-gynaecology specialist at an UNRWA clinic in Rafah, and more than a dozen others were massacred by an Israeli air strike on her house in al-Jenaina neighbourhood in Rafah. At least 10 of the killed Palestinians were members of the same family, including several women and their children. The youngest was a three-day-old infant girl. الشـ.. ـهيدة الدكتورة ماجدة أبو عكر https://t.co/A2xkA4w7dU pic.twitter.com/f5Pte7TjAq — ق.ض (@Qadeyah1) March 18, 2025 Advertisement Translation: The martyr, Dr Majda Abu Aker. The following martyrs were identified after the Aker family massacre in Rafah: Khaled Abu Riash (Abu Mohamed), Dr Majda Abu Aker, Kholoud Khaled Abu Riash and her children, Osama Abu Marzouq, Seham Abu Marzouq, Nour Osama Abu Marzouq and her three-day-old daughter, Dina Osama Abu Marzouq, Mohamed Osama Abu Marzouq. More civilians killed in attacks on south Gaza Another 15 people, most of them members of the Barhoum family, were named as being killed in al-Mawasi in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis. The area had been designated a so-called “humanitarian zone” by the Israeli military during the war, but that didn’t stop Israeli warplanes from repeatedly attacking al-Mawasi to deadly effect. Nearby, in the city of Abasan located east of Khan Younis, a family of six was killed as they were fleeing the Israeli bombs. Their vehicle was directly hit and destroyed by an air strike, killing all six people, Al Jazeera correspondents on the ground reported. Also in Khan Younis in the south, another family was left shocked and bereaved after their two young children were killed by Israeli bombs. Heba al-Hindi, the children’s aunt, announced the news on Facebook. “Dear children, may God have mercy on you and give patience to your mother and father,” she wrote, mourning Bisan and her brother Ayman. Translation: Ayman and Bisan are martyrs, with God. Dear God grant us the strength, God grant you strength my sister, Soad, may he give you strength and patience. ‘My children died hungry’ A video from Khan Younis, verified by Al Jazeera’s Sanad fact-checking agency, showed a Palestinian woman collapsing in tears as she bids farewell to her children and husband. “My children died hungry, I swear to God they did not find food for suhoor, my daughter died fasting without suhoor,” the woman said, referring to the meal eaten before dawn during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. To Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, she said, “I am a mother with a burning heart, may God burn your heart over your children”. Advertisement Family finds body after hours of searching In Jabalia in the north, families were forced to search for hours to find the remains of a loved one who was brutally killed by the devastating impact of an Israeli bomb. Gruesome footage verified by Al Jazeera showed destroyed buildings a large crater left by the bomb, and parts of a body being found flung onto a tree. Jabalia and its refugee camp have been subjected to some of the most destructive Israeli attacks since the start of the war on Gaza on October 7, 2023. In the weeks before the January 19 implementation of the ceasefire with Hamas that Israel has now shattered again, much of Jabalia was destroyed. The Israeli military has killed at least 48,577 Palestinians and wounded 112,041 others since the start of the war. Thousands more are missing or under the rubble and presumed dead, pushing the total to more than 61,000 dead. Adblock test (Why?)
German parliament approves Merz’s spending boost
The legislation still has to go to the upper house of the parliament for approval. Germany’s parliament has approved plans for a massive spending surge, throwing off decades of fiscal conservatism in hopes of reviving economic growth and scaling up military spending for a new era of European collective defence. The approval of the plans in the Bundestag or parliament on Tuesday will hand the chancellor-in-waiting a windfall of hundreds of billions of euros to ramp up investment after two years of contraction in Europe’s largest economy. Germany and other European nations have been under pressure to shore up their defences in the face of a hostile Russia and shifts in US policy under President Donald Trump, which European leaders fear could leave the continent exposed. Merz’s conservatives and the Social Democratic Party (SPD), who are in talks to form a centrist coalition after last month’s election, want to create a 500-billion-euro ($546bn) fund for infrastructure and to ease constitutionally enshrined borrowing rules to allow higher spending on security. “We have for at least a decade felt a false sense of security,” Merz told lawmakers ahead of the vote. Advertisement “The decision we are taking today on defence readiness … can be nothing less than the first major step towards a new European defence community,” he said. The legislation still has to go to the Bundestag upper house, which represents the governments of Germany’s 16 federal states. The main hurdle to passage there appeared to fall on Monday when the Bavarian Free Voters agreed to back the plans. The conservatives and SPD wanted to pass the legislation through the outgoing parliament for fear it could be blocked by an enlarged contingent of far-right and far-left lawmakers in the next Bundestag starting March 25. Merz has justified the tight timetable by citing the rapidly changing geopolitical situation. Europe today faces “an aggressive Russia” as well as “an unpredictable United States of America”, said Merz. “I want to make this clear: I am in favour of us doing everything we can to uphold transatlantic cooperation,” he added. “I consider it indispensable, but we must now do our homework in Europe. “We must become stronger. We must ensure our own security. That is our responsibility. Germany has a leading role to play in this, and I believe we should be prepared to assume this leadership responsibility.” Adblock test (Why?)
Children killed in strikes Israel says targeted Hamas ‘terror targets’
[unable to retrieve full-text content] Israeli strikes the military says were aimed at Hamas “terror targets” have killed and injured children across Gaza.